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iS^"^ °^ CONGRESS 



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Hollinger Corp. 
pH8.5 



Luther Burbank's 
Spineless Cactus 




Trademark 



Registered 



This Seal guarantees a genuine Luther Burbank Production 



The Luther Burbank Co. 

Sole Distributer 
Santa Rosa, California, U. S. A. 



Copyrighted 1912 by The Luther Burbank Company 






©CI,A33422S 



A man must confine his efforts to one occupation if 
he is to do it welL 

To be a successful creator of new forms of plant life, 
and a successful merchant is beyond the limit of one man. 

Such is my case. 

I must either confine myself entirely to selling my new 
varieties of plant life and leave the development alone; or 
confine my efforts to new^ forms and improved varieties, 
without distributing them to the world and making them 
of practical usefulness, 

I prefer to devote my entire energies to production. 

Plant life is my one absorbing thought night and day. 

In view of these circumstances, a corporation has been 
formed which will manage, market, and carry on exclus- 
ively the business of selling the various new forms of plant 
life which I have evolved. This corporation is the sole dis- 
tributer of the Luther Burbank horticultural productions, 
and from no other source can one be positively assured of 
obtaining genuine Luther Burbank creations. 

It is called The Luther Burbank Co. To give each pur- 
chaser a guarantee of receiving original Burbank produc- 
tions this corporation has originated a trade mark. The 
name "Burbank'* has been so indiscriminately and fraud- 
ulently used that it has in a measure lost its true signifi- 
cance. Every package of seed and e^f^y plant sent out 
from this corporation will have this trade mark on it for 
your protection. All fraudulent uses of the same will be 
vigorously prosecuted and any information that will give 
knowledge of its misuse will be welcome. 
Signed, 




The Spineless Cactus 



For hundreds, probably thousands of 
years, the great, rapid growing, desert 
thorny cactus (Opuntias and others), 
have furnished food for stock and fruit 
for man, especially in Southern Europe, 
Northern Africa and Mexico, where the 
fruit, though rather seedy and difficult 
or almost dangerous to handle, is very 



highly prized, more so perhaps than any 
other fruit except the orange and banana. 

The whole plant furnishes nutritious 
food in abundance, yet great pain and 
often death was the penalty for using 
them. 

Seventeen years ago the first scientific 
experiments for their improvement were 
instituted on Luther Burbank's farms. 



How to Judge Novelties — Look to Their Source. 



The greatest inconvenience and injus- 
tice is not misunderstanding, prejudice, 
envy, jealousy, ignorance or ingratitude, 
but that purchasers are so often deceived 
by various unscrupulous dealers who, 
taking advantage of the name "Burbank" 
hoist on the public green carnations, 
hardy bananas, half wild, thorny cactus 
for Burbank thornless ones, blue roses, 
seedless watermelons, cigars, soap, real 
estate, magazine articles, obtaining money 
or positions under false statements of 
having been in his employ, and a thousand 
other similar schemes ; and by outrageous 



misrepresentations or the change or ad- 
dition of a word or two from the correct 
descriptions, deceiving purchasers even 
when a genuine product of real value may 
happen to be offered. 

Wise planters procure their cuttings 
and plants from the original source. Tons 
of so-called "thornless" cactus cuttings 
have been sold to unsuspecting customers 
as "Burbank's" or "just as good as Bur- 
bank's" by a few dealers who well know 
that they are not in any respect what 
they claim for them. 



History of the Spineless Cactus 



By Luther Burbank. 



For more than fifty years I have been 
quite familiar with "thornless cactus" of 
many species and varieties. In fact, one 
of the first pets which I had in earliest 
childhood was a thornless cactus, one of 
the beautiful Epiphyllums. 

The Phyllocactus and many of the 
Cereus family are also thornless, not a 
trace to be found on any part of the plants 
or fruit. Thus the somewhat indefinite 
popular name of "spineless cactus" has 
been used by persons unacquainted with 



these facts, for be it known that "thorn- 
less cactus" is no more of a novelty than 
a "thornless" watermelon. 

But among the Cacti, which grow to an 
immense size with great rapidity and 
which can be readily cultivated in garden, 
field or desert no perfectly thornless ones 
were known and very little interest taken 
in the cacti of any kind, either thorny or 
thornless, as to their agricultural or hor- 
ticultural value until some seventeen 
years ago when the work of improvement 



was taken up on my experiment farms, 
and improved perfectly smooth, rapid- 
growing varieties had been produced and 
made known. 

Some of the best growers among these 
will produce five to ten times as much 
weight of food as will the wild thorny 
ones (which some ignorant or unprinci- 
pled dealers have recommended for cul- 
tivation), under exactly the same condi- 
tions. These wonderful results were not 
unexpected as the genus Opuntia is a 
surprisingly variable one even in the wild 
state. 

The best botanists — even those who 
have made the Opuntias a special study — 
declare it to be one of the most difficult 
genera to classify, as new forms are con- 
stantly appearing and the older ones so 
gradually and imperceptibly merge to- 
gether. The facts without doubt are that 
their ancestors had leaves like other vege- 
tation and were as thornless as an apple 
tree, but in ages past were stranded in 
a region which was gradually turning to 
a desert, perhaps, by the slow evapora- 
tion of some great inland lake or sea. 

Being thus stranded the plants which 
could adapt themselves to the heat and 
drought which as the years passed by be- 
came each season more and more severe, 
survived, at first by dropping the leaves, 
thus preventing too much evaporation, 
leaving the fat smooth stems only to per- 
form the functions of leaves. 

The Opuntias even to this day always 
shoot out very numerous rudimentary 
leaves, which persist a few days or weeks 
and then, having no function to perform, 
drop off. These rudimentary leaves which 
always appear for a time on the young 
slabs are often mistaken for big thorns by 
those who are not familiar with the 
growth and habits of the plant. 

But the Opuntias had yet to meet an- 
other enemy ; desert animals were hungry 
for their rich stores of nutriment and 
water, so the rudimentary leaves were 
supplemented by the awful needle-like 
thorns placed at exactly the right angles 
for the best defense. 

Some seventeen years ago, while test- 
ing the availability of a great number of 



proposed forage plants from the various 
arid regions of the world with a view to 
the improvement of the most promising, 1 
was greatly impressed with the apparent 
possibilities in this line among the Opun- 
tias, which from their well-known vigor 
and rapidity of growth, easy multiplica- 
tion and universal adaptability to condi- 
tions of drought, flood, heat, cold, rich 
or arid soil, place them as a class far ahead 
of all other members of the great cactus 
family, both as forage plants and for their 
most attractive, wholesome and delicious 
fruits, which are produced abundantly and 
without fail each season. 

These fruits which are borne on the 
different species and varieties, vary in 
size from that of a small peanut to the 
size of a very large banana and in colors 
of crimson, scarlet, orange, yellow and 
white, and also shaded in various colors 
like apples, pears, peaches and plums, and 
with more various attractive flavors than 
are found in most other fruits except per- 
haps the apple and the pear, the product 
of a single plant being often from 50 to 
200 pounds per annum, some bearing one 
crop, others two or more each season like 
the figs, the first or main crop ripening 
as the second comes into bloom on the 
same plants. 

The Opuntias, from root to tip, are 
practically all food and drink and are 
greatly relished by all herbivorous ani- 
mals, and for this very reason have had 
to be on the defensive, and perhaps no- 
where in the whole vegetable kingdom 
have such elaborate preparations been 
made; the punishment inflicted is imme- 
diate, the pain severe and lasting, often 
ending in death, so that all living things 
have learned to avoid the Opuntias as 
they do rattlesnakes, and notwithstanding 
their most delicious and nourishing fruit 
produced unfailingly in greatest abund- 
ance have never before been systematic- 
ally improved by the Agriculturist and 
Horticulturist as their merits so well de- 
serve. 

By my collectors and others, for the 
earliest experiments in this work the best 
Opuntias from all sections of Mexico, 
from Central and South America, from 
North and South Africa, Australia, Japan, 
Hawaii and the South Sea Islands, were 



secured. The United States Agricultural 
Department at Washington, through my 
friend, Mr. David G. Fairchild, also se- 
cured eight kinds of partially thornless 
ones for me from .Sicily, Italy, France and 
North Africa, besides a small collection of 
Mexican wild thorny ones which were in 
the government greenhouses at the time. 
Besides these I had the hardy wild species 
from Maine, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, 
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Dakota, 
Texas and other States. 



All these were grown and their agricul- 
tural and horticultural values studied and 
compared with great care. 

Many so-called thornless or partly 
thornless ones were obtained, but not one 
among the thousands received from all 
these sources was free from thorns and 
spicules and even worse, those which 
were the most promising in these respects 
often bore the poorest fruit, were the most 
unproductive of fruit or produced less 




Thorny and Smooth. 



fodder or were less hardy than the wild 
thorny species and varieties. 

The first work was to select the best of 
these, cross them, raise numerous seed- 
lings, select the best of these and so con- 
tinue hoping for improvement. 

One of the first and not unexpected 
facts of importance to be observed was 
that by crossing, the thorns were often 
increased rather than diminished, but not 
so with all. Some very few still became 
even more thcrnless than their so-called 
thornless parents with greatly increased 
size and quality of leaves (raquettes or 
slabs), and among them a combination of 
the best qualities of both parents with 
surprising productiveness of slabs for 
feeding. 

The work is still in progress but on a 
still larger scale and now these improved 
Opuntias promise to be one of the most 
important food-producers of this age, 
some of these new creations grown from 
the same lot of seed yielding fully ten 
times as much feed as others under ex- 
actly the same conditions. 

Old half thornless ones have been 
grown for ages. Among the very nu- 
merous wild seedling Opuntias, partially 
thornless ones have appeared from time to 
time and these have been growing gen- 
erally unnoticed here and there in every 
part of the earth where the thorny ones 
grew, the seeds no doubt scattered by 
birds and other agencies. Some of these 
bore fairly good but seedy fruits and have 
been locally cultivated for ages, but have 
never received specific horticultural names 
or descriptions though the fruits of these 
and the thorny ones have long been used 
extensively as food and are the principal 
source of food for millions of human be- 
ings in Southern Europe, North Africa, 
Mexico and other lands, for about three 
months in each year. 

Systematic work for their improvement 
has shown how^ pliable and readily mould- 
ed is this unique, hardy denizen of rocky, 
drought-cursed, wind-swept, sun-blistered 
districts and how readily it adapts itself 
to more fertile soils and how rapidly it 
improves under cultivation and improved 
conditions. 

Some one asks : "Won't they run wild 



again and produce thorns, when placed 
under desert conditions?" 

Has the "Burbank" plum which though 
introduced twenty-two years ago and 
is now more widely grown than any 
other plum on this earth, shown a tend- 
ency to be different in Africa, Borneo, 
Japan, Egypt, Madagascar or France? 
No, it is the same everywhere and the res- 
idents of Chicago, Auckland, London, San 
Francisco, New York and Valparaiso con- 
sume them in great (and rapidly increas- 
ing) numbers of carloads each season. 
The same may be said of the later intro- 
duced Wickson, America and numerous 
other plums and of my improved fruits 
and flowers which are extensively grown 
and generally offered for sale by most re- 
sponsible firms in all civilized countries 
and are generally slowly but very surely 
replacing the old and heretofore standard 
varieties. 

It will be so with these "new creations" 
in Opuntia. Tens of thousands of others 
not now ready to be distributed are under 
test, this catalog partially describing only 
the beginnings of a great work with the 
Opuntias, which in importance may be 
classed with the discovery of a new con- 
tinent. 

Does this work which has been only 
just briefly outlined mean anything? 

Intelligent people everywhere know 
well that it means a new agricultural era 
for whole continents like Australia and 
Africa and millions of otherwise useless 
acres in North and South America, Eu- 
rope and Asia. 

And now during the past three years 
the United States Department of Agri- 
culture has despatched agents to all 
parts where cacti grow to look up this 
matter among those who had for years 
been feeding the wild, thorny ones to 
their stock with good results when prop- 
erly prepared by fire, though it is ac- 
knowledged that thus prepared a portion 
of their nutritive value is lost and though 
the dangers of loss from feeding to stock 
are lessened, are not by any means made 
safe, even by singeing or any other pro- 
cess, while many of these new thornless 
ones are as safe to handle and as safe to 
feed as beets, potatoes, carrots or pump- 
kins. 



But let it be understood that these 
thorns are not growing on the wild Opun- 
tias for ornament any more than poison 
fangs, teeth, claws and stings are pos- 
sessed by various animals. 

They are for defense, and when de- 
prived of these defenses they must be 
protected from stock like any other feed 
grown in farm, fields or gardens. 



Still some doubter who has no knowl- 
edge of desert conditions or of these new 
plants will say, "Will it pay?" .Does any- 
thing pay? Some people seem to think 
that corn, wheat, oats, barley, cotton, rice, 
tobacco, melons and potatoes pay. 

How many tons of hay, beets or pota- 
toes can be raised each season on an acre 
of good soil? Yes, well, by actual weight 




The Spineless Cactus. 



in the summer of 1906 in the cool coast 
climate of Sonoma County, Cal., on a 
heavy, black "adobe" soil, generally 
thought wholly unsuited for cactus, my 
new Opuntias produced the first year, six 
months from single rooted leaves, planted 
about June 1, an average of 47 1-2 pounds 
per plant or one-fourth acre, yielding at 
the distance planted (2 1-2x5 feet), at the 
rate of 180,230 pounds, over ninety tons, 
of forage per acre. 

Some of the best varieties produced very 
much above this average. 

Though planted much too closely for 
permanent field culture yet these notes are 
of interest on a subject of which little has 
been known. 

These Opuntias are always expected to 
and do produce nearly or quite double as 
much feed the third and succeeding years 
as they do the second season of planting. 
Yet, I would not expect one-fourth the 
above yield on desert soil without irriga- 
tion but would expect nearly or quite 
twice as much as the yield mentioned 
above in a very warm climate with one or 
two light irrigations each season. 

These improved Opuntias must of 
course be fenced from stock when young, 
but after two or three years' growth stock 
may safely be turned loose among them 
as with age the main stem becomes woody 
and will not be injured, but on removal 
of stock will at once make a most rapid 
new growth. 

The leaves are to be fed to stock at any 
season throughout the whole year when 
most needed, and in countries where great 
numbers of valuable stock are lost in times 
of unusual drought, will be of inestimable 
value and will also prove of enormous 
value in less arid countries as a common 
farm or orchard crop even on the best 
agricultural soils but more especially on 
barren, rocky, hill and mountain sides and 
gravelly river beds which are now of no 
use whatever. 

The small, hard, wild thorny cactus has 
been a common everyday food for horses, 
camels, mules, oxen, growing and beef 
stock, dairy cows, pigs, and poultry for 
more than fifty years. 

Though millions have died from the 
thorns*, yet, no systematic work for their 
improvement had been taken up until 
some seventeen years ago ; now agricul- 
turists and horticulturists in every land 



are deeply interested and the governments 
of all countries are taking measures to se- 
cure a stock of the improved Burbank 
Opuntias to avoid if possible the too com- 
mon occurrence of famines, for the Opun- 
tias can remain uncultivated and undis- 
turbed year after year, constantly increas- 
ing in size and weight until needed ; then 
each acre will preserve the lives of a hun- 
dred animals or even human beings for 
months until other food can be obtained. 

The wild cactus is generally prepared 
for stock by singeing the thorns with fire, 
yet this never destroys all of the thorns. 

Those who have fed the wild cactus ex- 
tensively acknowledge that cattle are 
often seen with blood dripping from their 
mouths, and that their throats and 
tongues become at last inflamed, very 
painful and hard like a piece of sole 
leather. 

How would you enjoy being fed on 
needles, fish-hooks, toothpicks, barbed 
wire fence, nettles and chestnut burrs? 
The wild, thorny cactus is and always 
must be more or less of a pest. 

Millions of cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, 
ostriches and other animals have been 
destroyed by it. 

The new thornless ones will withstand 
flood, drought, heat, wind and poor soil 
better than the wild ones and will produce 
one hundred tons of good food where the 
average wild ones will produce ten tons 
of inferior food. 

Dry seasons which are certain to come 
have been and will continue to be the 
source of irreparable loss to stock raisers. 
Even alfalfa, which is probably the most 
important forage plant in existence, can 
not be grown without a deep rich soil and 
an abundant supply of water. 

Many of the owners of the great stock 
ranges have seen the necessity of some 
insurance against these fearful losses and 
are devoting certain tracts to these new 
cactus plants to avert this danger as well 
as for supplementing the usual feed. 




*Tlie wild cactus is prepared by boiling or steam- 
ing in Australia in times of drought, but even 
though great loss of stock is sometimes reported 
when thus prepared, some are saved from other- 
wise certain starvation. 



Where Cactus Can Be Successfully Grown. 




Map of Globe, Where Spineless Cactus Can Be Grown. 



Cactus can be grown close in along 
the coast of California south to San Diego, 
in the great valleys of California, in a 
considerable part of Southern Arizona, 
Southern New Mexico, Southern Texas, 
Southern Louisiana and all along the Gulf 
and Atlantic Coast of the United States 
well up to South Carolina for about one 
hundred miles inland, more or less, ac- 
cording to elevation and other factors. In 
a general way, this is the part of the 
United States best adapted for cactus 
culture. 

EESTORING THE LAND 

There is every prospect that before the 
life's work of Luther Burbank has ended 
he will have seen thousands of square 
miles of desert lands of the world trained 
to a profitable condition of fertility 
through the medium of his spineless cac- 
tus. The British government is consider- 
ing the feasibility of introducing Mr. 
Burbank 's hybrid plant in the Sahara 
desert, with a view of eventually forcing 
the most unprolific district in the world 
to support life.— "Register-Leader," Des 
Moines, Iowa. 



Maps of the Globe with cross lines in- 
dicating the northern and southern limits 
for the successful cultivation of the new 
Giant Burbank Cactus plants for fruit and 
forage ; it will be observed that the whole 
continents of Africa and Australia, most 
of South America and the southern part 
of North America, Southern Europe and 
Asia and most of the thousands of islands 
of the seas are included in the territory 
where they can be grown; even this great 
territory including more than three- 
fourths of the inhabitable land of the 
earth is being somewhat extended by the 
production of hardier varieties. This work 
is progressing slowly but very surely. 



"The production of these new spineless 
fruiting cacti is, in my opinion, as im- 
portant to the world as the discovery of a 
new continent. ' ' — Judge S. F. L., San 
Jose, Cal. 



Of Easy Culture and Rapid Growth 



Always Grown from Cuttings, Never By 
Seeds. 



Everybody knows that Baldwin apples, 
Bartlett pears and our favorite peaches, 
plums and cherries can not be raised from 
seeds; just the same laws hold true with 
the improved Opuntias, but fortuntely 
they can be raised from cuttings in any 
quantity with the utmost ease — more 
truly they raise themselves, for when 
broken from the parent plant, the cuttings 
attend to rooting without further atten- 
tion, whether planted right end up, bot- 
tom up, sideways or not at all. 

Best results are generally secured by 
planting the lower half of the cuttings 
below the surface of well prepared, dry, 
warm soil or sand. 

The two chief classes of Opuntias from 
which the majority of varieties of spine- 
less cactus originated are the Ficus Indica 
class and the Tapuna class, the Ficus In- 
dica class being more thoroughly domes- 
ticated and cultivated. 

The Ficusindica class may also be 
called the "Barbary Fig" class, most of 
the varieties yielding superior fruit in 
larger quantities than the Tapunas. They 
are also probably the heaviest producers 
of slabs, which are usually grass green in 
color and of a variety of shapes. The pads 
are produced in great masses. The Fresno 
and Santa Rosa are of the Fucis Indica 
class. 

The Tapuna class of spineless cactus 
contains the hardiest of the Opuntias. The 



Monterey and Chico are ot this class and 
each variety possesses great resistance to 
extremes of temperature. The slabs are 
usually a pale greenish white and have a 
minimum of fibre. They are very juicy 
and succulent and are perhaps the most 
palatable to live stock, which eagerly de- 
vour the pads. 

These varieties bear large quantities of 
fruit of the coarser kind which is highly 
desirable as hog or stock food, owing to 
the high percentage of sugar. This is of 
considerable importance and offers variety 
in feeding the slabs. 

No form of plant life perhaps responds 
more readily to kindly treatment than the 
Opuntia. This is demonstrated in the 
faster, heavier and generally better 
growth possible through a moderate 
amount of cultivation, the keeping down 
of grass and weeds, during the earlier pe- 
riods of growth. Larger yields of finer fruit 
and more and tenderer pads are the result 
of proper treatment. It is but natural that 
under distressing conditions due to the 
lack of proper care some varieties, espe- 
cially fruiting varieties, may develop a 
few short spines on the edge of a slab or 
rarely one here and there, but these gen- 
erally will be found, if at all, to be soft 
and cottony and so insignificant as to be 
harmless. What spines do appear as a 
general thing — will drop off as the plant 
grows older. 



Professor J. P. Leotsakos says in regard 
to the Cactus: 

' ' The old, somewhat thorny fruiting 
cactus is in my native country one of the 
principal foods for both opulence and pov- 
erty during three months of the year when 
it is abundant. These pear fruits are deli- 
cious, exceedingly nutritious and healthful. 
I would rather by far have half a dozen of 
them for breakfast than the best beef- 
steak or any other food. The fruit of these 
perfected cacti is the best fruit food for 
man or beast and Mr. Burbank is a great 
benefactor in perfecting the cactus. If 
he lived in Greece a monument would be 
erected to him in every city. I have never 
seen in all the world such an astounding 



crop of fruit as I saw on Burbank 's new 
varieties of truly spineless cactus at Santa 
Rosa, California." 

Prof. J. P. Leotsakos is a graduate of 
the Royal Classical College of Athens and 
a teleiofoitos of the law department of 
the University of Athens, and belongs to 
one of the best known families of contem- 
porary Greece. His father was the com- 
mander of the revolutionary army that 
brought about the deposition of King Otho 
in 1862, afterwards an aide-de-camp to the 
present King George, and finally Senator 
from Lakonia in the Greek Parliament at 
Athens. — D. N. Botassi, Consul General of 
Greece. 



The New Burbank Opuntias 




The best of these improved Spineless 
Opuntias when grown under favorable 
conditions on good soil in a warm cli- 
mate may confidently be expected to pro- 
duce an average of nearly or quite fifty 
to one hundred tons of feed per acre when 
once established, each season. 

So much has been written about the 
spineless cactus and so many are de- 
ceived with the old cheap, half-wild va- 
rieties which are so often offered as "Bur- 
bank's" or "just as good as Burbank's" 
that it seems necessary to have them dis- 
tributed direct from the originator and 
under correct descriptions so as to avoid 
as much as possible any misunderstand- 



ings, exaggerations or misstatements such 
as heretofore have been carelessly, igno- 
rantly or willfully made. Utterly spurious 
"Burbank's Thornless Cactus" has been 
offered for sale by dishonest parties for 
six years or more, not only in America, 
but also in Europe, Africa and Australia. 
In producing these new Opuntias more 
than seventeen years and much thought, 
labor and capital have been expended, 
thousands of crosses have been made and 
many hundred thousand seedlings and 
crossbred seedlings raised. The finished 
product is receiving a royal welcome 
everywhere by those who know. 



10 



Few of the cacti are of any economic 
value except the Opuntias ; of these there 
are more than one hundred and fifty spe- 
cies and innumerable varieties ; all prob- 
ably originally natives of the Western 
Hemisphere and were cultivated by the 
Indians long before Columbus discovered 
America. No class of plants are more 
easily grown, soil is not of much import- 
ance and cultivation almost unnecessary. 

The leaves of these new Giant cactus 
varieties should be shrunken slightly or 
wilted at least (except in absolutely dry 
deserts or in very warm summer weath- 
er). Meantime an earlier and more rapid 
growth will be secured by plowing and 
harrowing the land as for any other crop. 

The cuttings may then be easily and 
rapidly planted one-third to two-thirds 



their length under ground, either with 
spade or plow, in deserts slanting towards 
the position of the two o'clock p. m. sun; 
or they may simply be thrown on the 
ground and left to themselves; in either 
case they will grow, but in the end it is 
probably better to plant as above. 

Three by ten feet apart is the best dis- 
tance for permanent plantations, either 
for fruit or forage, but they may be 
planted at half these distances and later, 
three-fourths of the plants removed. 

People who are not acquainted with the 
cactus often mistake the numerous point- 
ed leaflets on the undeveloped slabs for 
spines. These, having no function to per- 
form, soon drop off. They are as different 
from spines as blossoms are from leaves. 







W 



rr. 



".^"r ■^.^'*;. i%.f H 




:- ■\\- 



^:^^^'^ 



.K 



View of Spineless Cactus Field in Fruit. 



V!l... :;^^yr \if\li 






mwmm 



11 



The Spineless Cactus for Forage 



The leaves or slabs of the spineless 
cactus are used for food for all kinds of 
stock including poultry. The whole plant, 
both the leaves and the fruit, almost 
without exception, finds immediate favor 
with all herbiverous animals. 

They actually prefer it to almost any 
other food. More than that, it makes a 
superior quality of beef and exceedingly 
rich milk. This is not surprising as the 
cactus is one of the richest foods known 
in sodium, potash and magnesium, which 
are the principal salts found in milk. 

These valuable organic salts are found 
in the cactus more abundantly than in 
any other food. 

The fact is often observed that ani- 
mals, when fed on cactus, improve in con- 
dition more than can be accounted for by 
the usual chemical analysis for food 
values. It has been a matter of much 
study by chemists until it was discovered 
by actual experiment that the organic 
mineral salts, known as sodium, potash 
and magnesia aided in the digestion of 
food, which was not otherwise assimi- 
lated and utilized by the animal. 



"The Burbank Spineless Cactus will 
prove especially valuable in feeding dairy 
cattle as it will furnish a succulent feed 
throughout the entire year, so that an 
even flow of milk can be obtained. 

When fed with a little cotton-seed meal 
or other concentrated food or used with 
about fifteen pounds of good alfalfa hay, 
it will prove the ideal feed by which dairy- 
men may obtain the same quantity and 
quality of milk in January as in June. 

Even now, the best butter is being 
made from dairy herds fed on singed wild 
cactus with only three or four pounds of 
cottonseed meal per day or its equivalent; 
while some of the best beef cattle have 
been fattened on the same rations and 
sheep, hogs and calves are being prepared 
for the market on an exclusive cactus 
diet." 

As cattle always follow feed there 
should be an ever present market for cac- 
tus forage wherever it is grown. Besides, 
as the different varieties of cactus mature 
fruit from September to March, they en- 
joy a season of exceptional shipping ad- 
vantages. 



Cactus Era Inevitable, 



"The cactus area is just opening. Ten 
or twenty years hence many well infonned 
men believe, the cactus will have sup- 
planted and displaced alfalfa throughout 
a great area of the civilized world. Why? 
Because the cactus will grow with little or 
no irrigation, upon any kind of soil, with 
infinitely less attention than alfalfa must 
have and will produce far greater results 
in yield of fodder. 

' ' The romance and marvel of the Bur- 
bank Cactus would fill a large book. The 
story of the sixteen years of patient effort 
employed by that wonder worker, Luther 
Burbank, justly calls for a place in litera- 
ture. 

"Imagine, if you please, a man collect- 
ing the cacti of the world, selecting from 
all of these varieties the best, then grow- 
ing millions of seedlings, crossing and re- 
crossing them, selecting and re-selecting, 
and, finally, after sixteen years tri- 



umphantly evolving from this patient, la- 
borious process and from millions of dis- 
carded cacti, seven plants which were not 
only free from spines but which possessed 
the growing and feeding values for which 
he had so long striven. This, in a nutshell, 
is what Luther Burbank did with the cac- 
tus. Sometimes out of 100,000 seedlings, 
he destroyed 99,999. The remaining in- 
dividual he watched and tended as care- 
fully as a mother her nursing babe. Pa- 
tience, infinite patience, had to be added 
to the Burbank genius, the truly Spine- 
less Cactus. 

"Of those anxious ones who have en- 
deavored to detract from the merit of this, 
the greatest of the Burbank triumphs, we 
will say nothing. The Burbank Thornless 
Cactus speaks for itself. It will, by its 
wonder-working accomplishments, best an- 
swer all critics, whether malicious or igno- 
rant." — Ex. 



12 



Varieties for Sale. 





Chico in Hand. Monterey Round Slab on Plant. 



Chico (Forage). 

(Tapuna Class.) 

"Chico" is one of the two best of the 
new Opuntias of this class. The plant is 
an upright, compact grower with large, 
smooth, greenish-white pads. It is a very 
rapid grower. Like the Monterey this 
variety is very hardy and will stand 
great extremes of temperature. The fruit 
grows in profusion and is somewhat 
smaller than the fruit of the Monterey. 
Analysis by Professor M. E. Jaffa, of 
the State University, shows the great 
value of the pads for food, the amount of 
fat and starch especially being a surprise. 



Monterey (Forage). 

(Tapuna Class). 

The Monterey is one of the most rapid 
growing Opuntia, and has the largest and 
heaviest pads, slabs or leaves of any of 
this class. They are nearly circular in 
outline, pale greenish-white, ten to twelve 
inches across even on one-year-old plants, 
and are extremely thick. The slabs have 
attained a weight of seven and one-half 
pounds. This variety is very hardy and 
possesses great resistance to extremes of 
temperature. The fruit is egg-shaped, 
sometimes almost globular, and grows 
four to ten to each slab ; some of the 
larger weighing as much as a half pound 
each. 



"BETTER THAN THE GOVERNMENT FIFTEEN TO ONE." 



' ' On one of our experimental farms, in 
this state, we have some of Mr. Burhank's 
thornless cactus growing side by side with 
the best varieties of the government's 
thornless cactus, distributed last spring. 



' ' The rate of increase on the part of 
the poorest of the Burbank cactus as com- 
pared to the best of the government cac- 
tus, is about fifteen to one." — "Enter- 
prise," Silver City, N. M. 



13 











Fresno — Two Seasons Growth. 



Fresno (Forage). 
(Ficus Indica Class). 

This valuable new creation is a cross- 
bred seedling and is a very heavy pro- 
ducer: makes a beautiful compact plant, 
fruits abundantly. The fruit is medium 
in size, light yellow and of fine quality. 
A most valuable sort for all livestock and 
especially hogs, which are very fond of 
the fruit. 



Santa Rosa (Forage). 

(Ficus Indica Class). 

This new creation in Opuntias is a very 
strong, rapid grower, yielding enor- 
mously. The slabs are fat, dark green, 
often two feet long by ten inches wide. 
The orginial plant of this variety pro- 
duced 500 pounds of slabs in three years. 
Fruits in fairly large quantity and of good 
quality. This variety is one of the best 
for forage. 



Haleakala Ranch, 
Makawao, Maui, T. H., 
April 17, 1905. 
Editor Butchers' and Stock Growers' 
Journal: 

I read with much interest in your issue 
of the 30th ultimo the article on "Cactus 
Fed Beef." 

On this ranch we have one paddock of 
twelve hundred acres covered very thickly 
with cactus or prickly pear; there is also 
a slight growth of Bermuda grass growing. 
In this paddock are pastured all the year 
round, four hundred head of cattle and 



about seven hundred hogs. The cattle only 
get water when it rains, that is, during the 
months of December and January; the 
other ten months they subsist entirely and 
solely on the fruit and young leaves of the 
cactus which they help themselves to. It 
is a remarkable fact that during the dry 
months of the year we get more fat cattle 
per cent from that paddock than from any 
of the others. 

I consider cattle fed on cactus like these 
are, to have as fine flavored beef as any I 
have tasted in San Francisco or New Zea- 
land. 

L. VON TEMPSKY, 
Manager Haleakala Banch Co. 



14 



Edison on Burbank. 

"Luther Burbank, the greatest origina- 
tor of new and valuable forms of plant 
life of this or any other age."— Dr. David 
Starr-Jordan, President Leland Stanford 
Jr. University. 

"It is an honor to California that Luth- 
er Burbank is its citizen. He is all that 
he has ever been said to be and more."— 
Dr L H. Bailey, Cornell University, N. Y. 

"He stands easily at the head of the 
world's greatest experimentalists in plant 
life. ' '— W. Atlee Burpee, Philadelphia, Pa. 

"Mr Burbank is a man who does things 
that are of much benefit to mankind and 
we should do all in our power to help 
him." — Theodore Roosevelt. 

"I look to great practical results from 
Burbank's work among plants."— Thomas 
A. Edison. 

"No other man has given to horticul- 
ture so many valuable things as has Luther 
Burbank."— Prof. E. J. Wickson, Dean of 
Agriculture, University of California. 



"Supreme Beyond Other Men." 

"To Luther Burbank has been granted 
the knowledge, supreme beyond other men, 
of the susceptibility of plants to vary un- 
der the influence of new environments, 
delicate manipulation, and intelligent di- 
rection. ' '— ' ' Scientific American. ' ' 

"The man who always does most says 
the least. Your good works will bless hu- 
manity long after you have said 'Good 
Night.' Your work is always a source of 
inspiration to me, and I am continuously 
wondering 'What will he accomplish 
next?" — Col. G. B. Brackett, Pomological 
Chief U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

"While I have long been impressed with 
your work, I am now overwhelmed with 
the vast amount of good which you have 
been able to accomplish. I respect your 
work above all that has ever been done 
for horticulture. "—Prof . Wm. B. Alwood, 
Virginia College and Experiment Station. 




This Illustration Shows the Monterey (Forage) Variety at a Growth of Three Seasons. Grass 
■^" Evidences Lack of Cultivation. 



15 




Santa Rosa (Forage). Three Seasons Growth. 



"Burbank's thornless cactus is certainly 
proving itself to he the modern vegetable 
marvel. Nothing like it has ever been 
produced before. Its vitality surpasses the 
limit of belief, for nothing in the vegetable 
world has ever shown such wonderful re- 
sistant capacity, such reproductive powers, 
such exuberance of growth." — "Stand- 
ard," Eureka, Cal. 

Burbank's Thornless Cactus at Kiamuki 
"Burbank's thornless cactus is now be- 
ing cultivated at Kiamuki, and plants are 
being taken from there and sent to the 
other islands. This new form of cactus 
is growing well and there are hopes that it 
will grow rapidly on the other islands, 
especially in the cattle districts. 

"As a food product the cactus appeals 
to cattle as one of the most attractive 
foods found in the pasture lands. Even the 
thorny cactus is eaten by them. ' ' 

— "Commercial Advertiser," Honolulu, 
T. H. 

International Headquarters Salvation Army 

Service, London, E. C. 

"I am so glad to know that you will 
so kindly supply us with your latest varie- 
ties of absolutely spineless cactus, as I am 



sure this will be most valuable to India. 
Next to human beings the cattle in India 
suffer terribly at the time of famine and 
scarcity; in fact, during two or three 
months every year they are reduced to the 
point of starvation during the extremely 
hot weather, wandering about in search of 
food. Hence I feel sure your cactus will 
be a great boon to them, for cactus, as you 
know, grows freely in all parts of India, 
only it is of the thorny kind. 

"Wishing you every success in your 
work believe me, 

"Yours very sincerely, 

"F. BOOTH TUCKER." 

Imperial Russian Consulate, 
San Francisco, Cal. 
Luther Burbank Esq., Santa Rosa, Cal. 

Dear Sir: It is generally known that 
scientific societies, both public and pri- 
vate, as well as the world at large, are 
greatly interested in your work of research. 
Lately the Imperial Russian Department 
of Agriculture has turned its attention to 
your cultivation of the thornless cactus. 
I have the honor to be 
Yours truly, 

K. 



16 



From Twentieth Century Farming. 

Better Forage, Better Fruit 



For hundreds, probably thousands of 
years, the great, rapid growing, desert 
thorny cactus (Opuntias and others) have 
furnished food for stock and fruit for man, 
especially in Southern Europe, Northern 
Africa and Mexico, where the fruit, though 
rather seedy and difficult or almost dan- 
gerous to handle, is very highly prized, 
more so perhaps than any other fruit ex- 
cept the orange and banana. 

The whole plant furnishes nutritious 
food in abundance, yet great pain and 
often death was the penalty for using them. 

Seventeen years ago the first scientific 
experiments for their improvement were 
instituted on my farms and the interest in 
these new products has been so far reach- 
ing that the official representatives of al- 
most every government on earth have 
shown their profound appreciation for the 
work, either by correspondence, personal 
investigation or purchase of some of the 
new varieties. 

It has now been fully demonstrated that 
these new Burbank Opuntias (cactus) 
thrive even better in the fertile valleys 
than on the desert wastes, producing most 
astounding crops not only of forage for 
stock and poultry but most nourishing and 
most delicious, large and strikingly beau- 



tiful fruits of many forms, colors and qua- 
lities. 

Some of the new Burbank fruiting varie- 
ties have yielded and will yield more fruit 
per acre even the third and fourth year 
from rooted cuttings than the best apple 
orchards will in ten years, and at one- 
tenth the expense; and better yet, the crop 
of fruit is as certain as the return of the 
seasons, increasing in quantity each season 
with no cultivation and no care whatever 
except to pick and market when ripe or 
nearly ripe like other fruits. 

Climatic Conditions and Geographical 
Distribution 

These Opuntias differ astonishingly in 
hardiness. Some strains of the common 
prickly pear (Opuntias vulgaris) will grow 
readily in Alaska and several of the thorny 
species will endure forty degrees below 
zero without injury. The best agricultural 
and horticultural species and varieties are 
not quite as hardy as the fig, yet are more 
so than the orange, lemon or lime. Old 
plants are very much hardier than the 
young, soft ones. The Tapuna strain seem 
to be almost as hardy as the fig and will 
withstand moisture better than most of 
the others. 




'Chico" — Three Seasons Growth. 



17 



A Demonstration of the Superiority of Cactus as a Feed for 

Cows. 



Mr. Charles J, Welch, who is the owner 
of one of the finest, blue-blood, registered 
Holstein herds in the West, and who is 
the president of the California Holstein 
Breeders' Association, made a test of the 
feeding values of cactus on a Holstein- 
Friesian cow, "Carren wase de kol," num- 
ber 49,450. This cow was twelve years 
old. 

The following is the report of feeding 
her on ordinary feed, and the results when 
she was fed on spineless cactus : 

For six milkings for January 29, 30 
and 31 previous to beginning the feeding, 
the cow's milk was weighed and the aver- 
age per day was found to be 38 pounds. 
She was being fed on alfalfa hay with the 
herd. Alfalfa hay was the sole feed of 
the herd as that is all that we had at the 
time. It is the general winter practice 
here to rely on alfalfa hay. No succulent 
is available at this season of the year and 
no pasture of any kind. Consequently, 
any ratio of increase in her milk flow 
when fed cactus would be a reliable ratio 
of increase in the yield of milk for the 
whole herd if fed in a like manner. 

On the start it was thought advisable 
to feed some bran with the cactus. 

Accordingly on February 1, 1910, "Car- 
ren" was given, in addition to all the al- 
falfa hay that she would eat a mess com- 
posed of bran, a little corn meal and a 
small amount of cactus. This mess was 
given twice daily. 

The cactus was increased a little each 
feed and the amount of bran and meal 
decreased. With this feeding she in- 
creased to 55-56 pounds of milk per day. 

This method of feeding was continued 
to February 20, when she was getting 70 
to 85 pounds cactus per day with but two 
pounds of bran. 

On February 21, 90 to 100 pounds cactus 
was fed and no bran or meal and the cac- 
tus fed in three feeds, morning, noon and 
night, with what alfalfa hay she would 
eat. With the cactus alone and alfalfa 
hay she maintained her flow of milk with 
remarkable regularity. 

The feeding was continued and on 
March 1^ it was resolved to increase the 
amount of cactus to note the effect. 



The following is the record: 

MHiK CACTUS 

PRODUCED FEED 



March 





a.m. 


p.m. 


Tot. 


a.m. 


m.] 


p.m. 


Tot. 


I 1 


33 


25 


58 


30 


35 


42 


106 


2 


32 


26 


58 


38 


45 


58 


141 


3 


33 


26 


59 


51 


54 


53 


158 


4 


33 


25 


58 


50 


43 


68 


161 


5 


31 


25 


56 


58 


54 


53 


165 


6 


32 


25 


57 


65 


56 


62 


177 


7 


32 


25 


57 


68 


58 


63 


189 


8 


32 


26 


58 


67 


56 


62 


184 


9 


32 


26 


58 


68 


65 


50 


183 


10 


33 


26 


59 


55 


50 


55 


160 


11 


321/2 


26 


591/2 


54 


52 


53 


159 


12 


32 


251/2 


: 571/2 


52 


50 


53 


155 


13 


32 


25 


57 


50 


53 


50 


153 


14 


30 


24 


54 


50 


52 


50 


152 


15 


30 


24 


54 


50 


50 


50 


150 


16 


29 


23 


52 


50 


50 


50 


150 


17 


29 


24 


53 


50 


54 


50 


154 


18 


29 


25 


54 


50 


52 


50 


152 


19 


29 


21 


50 


54 


50 


50 


154 


20 


30 


21 


51 


50 


52 


50 


152 


21 


28 


20 


48 










22 


21 


19 


40 










23 


26 


18 


44 










24 


23 


17 


40 










25 


22 


16 


38 










26 


22 


17 


39 










27 


22 


16 


38 














NOTES 











1. From the first we noticed that with 
an increase in the cactus fed she ate less 
hay, and on the days of March 6, 7, 8 and 
9 she ate but very little hay. 

2. She always ate up clean all the cac- 
tus we gave her with great relish and 
would leave the alfalfa hay immediately 
when the box of cactus was placed before 
her. How much more than 68 pounds of 
cactus at one feed she would eat we do 
not know. 

3. A slight increase in the flow of milk 
was noted when the larger amounts of 
cactus were fed. With the larger amounts 
her limit was evidently reached. There- 
fore the amount of cactus was decreased 
and on March 20 was stopped altogether 
to note the loss on the withdrawal of the 
cactus. She was now fed on alfalfa hay 
only as at the beginning of the trial. It 
will be noted that she dropped back to 
about the amount she was giving at the 
beginning, February 1. 

4. The total amount of gain for the larg- 
est milking was 27 pounds milk per day. 
The average gain for the first 12 days of 



18 



March was 25 2-3 pounds per day. The 
average amount of cactus fed per day for 
the 12 days was 161 Va pounds. Total 
amount of cactus fed for the entire time 
was about 4,700 pounds. 

5. The condition of the cow was notably 
improved. Bowels about the same as when 
fed on green alfalfa. The larger part of 
the cactus fed was trimmings and scraps 
of last season's growth. The larger part 
of the cactus had been cut from the plants 
from six to eight weeks before it was fed. 
Had fresh cut, well matured slabs been 
fed better results would have been at- 
tained. 

6. It was demonstrated that from 160 
to 170 pounds per head per day with what 
alfalfa hay they would eat up clean, would 
give about the same results as a full feed 
on green alfalfa in the field. 



RESULT OF FEEDING BURBANK 
SPINELESS CACTUS AT THE CERTI- 
FIED DAIRY OWNED BY H. R. TIMM 
AT DIXON, CALIFORNIA. 









MILK. 


CACTUS. 








LBS. 


LBS. 


September 


2, 


1912 


37 


10 


September 


3, 


1912 


36 


22 


September 


4, 


1912 


341/2 


38 


September 


5, 


1912 


371/2 


67 


September 


6, 


1912 


42 


75 


September 


7, 


1912 


44 


75 


September 


8, 


1912 


45 


72 


September 


9, 


1912 


47 


76 


September 


10, 


1912 


46 


74 


September 


11, 


1912 


451/2 


76 


September 


12, 


1912 


431/2 


80 



The above is the result of a test in the 
feeding of Burbank Spineless Cactus to a 
dairy cow, made at the H. R. Timm Dairy, 
Dixon, Cal. The test was made during a 
period of ten days to find out the real 
value of cactus as a milk producing food. 

As the dairy herd was being fed on the 
best kind of green alfalfa and alfalfa hay 
it would hardly be expected that a cow 
would increase in milk when cactus was 
substituted for the green feed. On Sep- 
tember 2, the cow was taken from the herd 
and placed on a ration of cactus and bar- 
ley, and a light feed of alfalfa hay. With- 



7. The cactus that was fed was cut into 
pieces about the size of the hand; but a 
better way would be to run it through 
a root slicer. 

8. A small amount of cactus was also 
tried on two young cows and they ate it 
greedily on sight and begged for more. 

9. A wheelbarrow load of cacti was fed 
daily for five or six days to the hogs and 
they ate it greedily and with relish. 

10. All the varieties were fed and rel- 
ished equally well. 

The above statements and facts are true 
to the best of my knowledge and belief. 
(Signed) CHAS. J. WELCH. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 
28th day of March, A. D., 1910. 

C. O. FREEMAN, 



in four or five days she ate it without 
any grain and soon reached a gain of ten 
pounds of milk daily. 

I consider it a splendid substitute for 
green alfalfa when fed with a small 
amount of alfalfa hay. And I consider it 
doubly valuable as a cow food on account 
of the fact that it can be harvested and 
fed during the winter months when there 
is no other green feed. 

H. R. TIMM. 

NOTE: Mr. Timm is the president of the 
First National Bank of Dixon and the 
owner of one of the largest and best cer- 
tified dairies in the West. 



State of California, 

County of Solano — ss. 

. R. R. Timm being first duly sworn de- 
poses and says: I have read the attached 
statement of facts and know the contents 
thereof and desire to state that the same 
are true to my own knowledge, information 
and belief. 

. . Subscribed to and sworn to before me 
this 3rd day of December, 1912. 

H. R. TIMM. 
WINFILED R. MADDEN, Notary Public 
in and for Solano County, California. 



NEW PLANT FOR FORAGE. 



That Spineless Cactus Is a Success Has 
Been Proven at Yuma 

The growing of spineless cactus is no 
longer a desert dream, or the figment of 
the imagination. This desert wonder is 
being grown in the desert lands adjacent 
to Yuma and some surprisingly good re- 
sults are being obtained. — "Times," 
Bouse, Ariz. 

Is man also to redeem the desert for 
civilization? The French will test Bur- 
bank's spineless cactus on Sahara and the 



desert islands of Mayotte, off Madagascar, 
and the English and Germans will try its 
virtues in their South African possessions. 
Burbank 's creation is declared to be palat- 
able not only to cattle, but to man, and 
it thrives on areas that are hopelessly 
arid, provided there be plenty of heat and 
light. It would be an almost crowning 
achievement if, by his genius, man, after 
these thousands of years were able to an- 
nounce the doom of the desert. — "Jour- 
nal," Portland, Ore. 



19 



Cactus Supplies All the Water the Animals Need 



There is the further consideration that 
the cactus suppHes the animal with al- 
most all the water it needs. 

In Hawaii and Mexico cattle have been 
known to subsist for six months on a 
cactus diet without a drop of water. 

Mr. Robert Hind, millionaire sugar 
planter and ranchman of Honolulu, 
writes : 

THRIVE ON DEINKLESS RANCH 

Animals on Millionaire's Place in Hawaii 
Don't Know Taste of Water 

KANSAS CITY, Jan. 20.— "I have 
horses on my ranch that do not know 
what water is, and will not drink it if 
it is brought before them. They have 
never tasted water. I have good fat cattle 
that have never seen water and would 
not know how to act if water touched 
them. I have other cattle that I have 
imported from the United States which 
have not tasted a drop of water since be- 
ing turned out on my cactus and blue 



grass pastures. They have lived for years 
without water and are as fat as any grass- 
fed cattle in the United States. They 
make just as good beef as you can get in 
any restaurant. ' ' 

These statements were made in sober 
earnest by Robert Hind, millionaire sugar 
planter and ranch man of Honolulu. 

When water holes go dry on our own 
Western ranges cattle men hurry their 
stock out of the country. The price of 
beef on the hoof goes down and the price 
of meat goes up. Dry years mean panic 
among the owners of cattle, and the owner 
of pure-breds in the United States would 
not think of buying a $1000 bull and 
putting him on a ranch that had neither 
stream, spring nor well on it. He would 
die of thirst in less than a week. 

Mr. Hind has bought six valuable bulls. 
He will buy several more before he re- 
turns to his island ranch. And when he 
does take the animals back he will turn 
them loose in a pasture of cactus and blue 
grass growing unon volcanic soil in which 
there is absolutely no water for drinking 
purcoses. And the animals will thrive 
as others of their kind have thrived which 
Mr. Hind brought here a year ago. 




^- i 



""..- ^ 



Result of One Slab Planted December, 1911. Photo Taken November 15, 1912, 38 Slabs Increase. 
20 




Showing a Four Seasons Growth of Spineless. 



"America is letting a lot of unsalable 
land lie idle in what are now barren 
wastes, ' ' said Mr. Hind. * * * Just 
think of the possibilities in the millions 
of acres of unused and supposedly unsal- 
able land in your country. 

"We have imported blue grass from 
Kentucky and orchard grass from other 
parts of the United States, and our cattle 
live for a good part of the year on these 
grasses without water, so luxuriantly do 
they grow and so much moisture do they 
contain. When it becomes exceedingly dry 
and the grasses are not doing well, we turn 
the cattle and horses into cactus pastures. 
I have kept one lot of seventy-five cattle 
in a twenty-acre pasture of cactus for 
three months, and they are doing well. 
They put on flesh just as cattle do in 
your luxuriant Missouri pastures, but my 
cattle are without water. 

' ' The fruit of the spineless cactus is 
much like that of the prickly pear in Amer- 
ica, but is larger. We fatten our pigs, 
chickens and turkeys on it. Any domestic 
animal in Hawaii will eat it and it is a 
great flesh producer." 

Mr. Hind started as a sugar planter and 
made a fortune. Then he bought a few 
thousand acres next to his plantation and 



imported Herefords, shorthorns and Polled 
Angus cattle from New Zealand. That was 
ten years ago. He now has sold all his 
cattle, except Hereford and Polled An- 
gus. He has 2,500 cattle, 2,000 sheep and 
a large number of horses on his ranch 
now. He handles nothing but pure-bred 
stock. — Kansas City Times. 

Alexandria, Egypt, April 23, 1908. 
' ' The Opuntias growing in this country 
bear very few large thorns but the small 
ones, embedded bundlewise in the flesh of 
the leaves are very numerous and cattle 
as well as camels are not allowed to feed 
on these plants. We want to have quite 
thornless plants as a food for cattle and 
bearing fruits with a large percentage of 
sugar. 

"Please be kind enough to send us offer 
for one or more varieties of plants and the 
amount of money we will have to send to 
you for posting a lot of leaves to Egypt. 

' ' His highness the Khedive is keenly in- 
terested in the question of your Opuntias 
and will be glad to see a success of our 
future experiments." — Charles Chevalier 
de Blumencron. 



21 




' ' Eobusta. ' ' 



Comparative Value of Cactus Forage. 



There is not any particular price for 
cactus forage, simply because there is not 
any for sale. And yet the question is 
often asked, what is it worth? The best 
answer that we can give is that where 
one acre of land will produce enough feed 
for one cow, the cactus plant will grow 
enough feed for four. In other words it 
is four times the feeding value in quan- 
tity and quality of alfalfa. 

In the summer of 1906 in the coast cli- 
mate of Sonoma County, California, on 
the black heavy adobe, a soil thought 
wholly unsuitable for cactus, there was 
produced an average of forty-seven and 
one-half pounds per plant in six months' 



growth, from single rooted leaves. These 
yielded 180,230 pounds or over ninety 
tons of forage per acre. 

One may reasonably expect under fa- 
vorable conditions to obtain a yield of 
100 tons of good forage per acre per year. 

The Spineless Opuntias will produce 
nearly double as much feed the third and 
succeeding years as they do the second 
sea.^on of planting. 

Of course, it would not be expected 
that there would be more than one-fourth 
of the above yield on desert soil without 
irrigation. Still there could be expected 
almost twice as much as mentioned above 
where the climate is warm and where 



22 



there are one or two light irrigations 
each season. 

Stock can be turned loose among the 
cactus, after the plants have reached an 
age of three years, as the main stem be- 



comes woody and can not be injured. On 
the removal of the stock from the cactus 
plant pasture, new leaves or slabs rapidly 
appear, and in a short time has as much 
feed as it had originally. 



Over 200 Tons Yield to the Acre Per Year. 



Oakland, Cal., Nov. 18, 1912. 

On November 18, 1912, I selected what 
I considered to be an average plant, a 
fair representative of a considerable quan- 
tity of Spineless Cactus growing at the 
Copa de Oro Stock Farm near Los Banos, 
California. 

The variety chosen is an average pro- 
ducer and its growth is equalled by other 
varieties. 

This particular plant was six feet two 
inches in height and eight feet in width, 
and is the growth obtained from one orig- 
inal slab or cutting planted in January^ 
1910. I cut all of the new growth from 
the original stock and obtained 266 slabs 
which weighed 586 pounds. The original 
slab or stock had also increased in size 
and weighed 25 pounds. This season's crop 
of fruit weighed 105 pounds. No estimate 
is given of last season's crop which prob- 
ably nearly equalled the crop obtained this 
year. The total weight of the slabs and 



fruit obtained this season aggregates 716 
pounds, all of which is good stock food. 
The original slab will continue to produce 
indefinitely. 

If planted 7 by 3 feet or 2000 plants to 
the acre, and a like growth were obtained, 
the yield would approximate 716 tons of 
stock food per acre for three season's 
growth, or a yearly average of 238 2-3 
tons. 

The above statements and facts are true 
to the best of my knowledge and belief. 

CHAS. JAY WELCH. 

State of California, County of Alameda, 
ss. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 
25th day of November, A. D., 1912. 

MAX W. KOENIG, 
Notary Public in and for Alameda Co., Cal. 
(Seal.) 




Two Seasons Growth. 



23 



Where to Plant. 



Plant wherever you wish to have them 
grow, on rich level land or the steepest, 
poorest rocky hillsides, old river beds or 
rock piles, but their growth and succu- 
lence are greatly increased by good soil, 
some culture and in very dry soils by 
one or two light irrigations each sum- 



mer. By such treatment the fruit is 
greatly increased in size and quality, and 
the slabs for feeding are doubled in 
weight and succulence. Nothing responds 
more promptly to fairly good treatment. 
They will flourish almost anywhere in 
mild climates, except where it is too wet 
for anything else to grow. 



When to Plant. 



Cactus may be planted any month in the 
year, but never when the ground is wet. 

No one who is familiar with them 
would undertake to root or transplant 
them during cold, damp weather, such as 
would be best for other trees and plants. 



During April, May, June, July, August, 
September and October they will thrive 
under almost any treatment; the leaves 
,blossoms, buds, half-grown fruits or any 
part of the plant will make roots and 
grow, even under the most trying cir- 
cumstances. 



How to Plant. 



The Opuntias differ from nearly all 
other plants as the cuttings should be 
dried or slightly wilted before they will 
root and grow rapidly after which noth- 
ing grows so readily. When received 
place them in some warm shady place and 
allow them to remain a few days or a 
week, after which they will readily form 
roots and start to grow anywhere, even 



on a board, a pile of rocks or the roof 
of a house if you choose. When wilted, 
the usual way is to plant so that about 
one-third to two-thirds of the cutting is 
below the soil. They may be planted in an 
upright position or at any angle from the 
perpendicular, or even thrown flat on the 
ground, it makes no difference to the 
Opuntias. 



"The plants will nearly meet (when 
planted eight feet apart) in two season's 
growth, when it will he impossible to get 
animals and machinery through them in 
cultivating. The forage, however, need not 
he gathered unless needed for several years 

' ' It has been called a ' vegetable that 
grows fruit. ' ' ' 

"As a poultry food it is unsurpassed. 
Poultry will leave alfalfa, lettuce and 
other green food for cactus leaves. ' ' 
longer, but simply allowed to grow until the 
time when it is wanted. It will be fully as 
good feed, and, according to some, better 
five years later. ' ' 

' ' The response of this plant to cultiva- 
tion is phenomenal. We know of no par- 
allel in the history of cultivated crops. The 
cacti in general are considered plants of 
slow growth and the pear of Southern 
Texas is no exception to the general rule. 
While it might take it five or six years to 
grow large enough to pay to harvest in the 
native pastures, it makes a big crop in 
two years when cultivated. By actual 
test it grows eight times as fast with good 



cultivation as it does without cultivation 
in grassy pastures. ' ' 

"It produces tremendous tonnage; it re- 
quires no irrigation; it is an excellent dairy 
roughage, good roughage for any cattle, 
and can be used for hogs, chickens, sheep 
and goats. It can be fed in a green suc- 
culent condition all the year. It has no 
serious insect or fungous enemies. One 
planting is good for repeated cuttings. It 
does not deteriorate with age but can be 
fed when five or six years old to even bet- 
ter advantage than when young. It is a 
certain crop under conditions which cause 
other crops to be a failure. 

"That the Chamber of Commerce of the 
City of San Diego does most heartily en- 
dorse the efforts to spread the new Bur- 
bank fodder, thornless cactus, throughout 
the southwest, thereby rendering highly 
productive vast areas of arid and semi- 
arid lands, and thus still further demon- 
strating the agricultural importance of 
this section of the country. ' ' — Resolution 
adopted by San Diego Chamber of Com- 
merce. 



24 




Showing Cactus Planted in Rows. 
DISTANCES FOR PLANTING. 



On faiilv good soil in general field cul- 
ture for stock feed, these new giant-grow- 
ing kinds should be planted about three 
feet apart in the rows and the rows should 
be eight or ten feet apart. They may be 
planted in double rows in squares of 
3x3, the double rows being fourteen feet 
apart. In orchard planting for the large 
growing, fruiting varieties four by twelve 
feet would be more convenient. 

The selection of ordinary Opuntia cut- 
tings is of some importance. Those who 
have grown them on the shores of the 
Mediterranean for hundreds of years al- 
ways select "bearing wood" if fruit is the 
object, and the least thorny and bristly 
leaves if a plantation is to be produced for 
forage ; even some of the partially spiny 
ones may be made less so by careful se- 
lection of cuttings but this labor is wholly 
useless since the new Burbank varieties 
are offered. 

When alfalfa was generally introduced 
about twenty years ago, many wiseacres 



declared it was "no feed for milch cows." 
Who says it is not good for them now? 
It has been proved that the poorest of 
the Burbank spineless cactus varieties 
are so far superior to any of the old half 
thorny ones that no comparison with 
them can fairly be made. Is it then sur- 
prising that practically all the nations 
of the earth are anxious to obtain the new 
Burtank Cactus as soon as possible? Be 
very careful, however, that you get the 
Burbank cactus, not the half spineless 
ones so very often sold as the "Burbank" 
or "just as good as the Burbank," such as 
the builders of the pyramids of Egypt 
may have cultivated. 

Cultivation. 

Cultivation is not so needful in cool, 
moist climates, but under hot, semi-arid 
conditions cultivation is necessary to ob- 
tain the maximum results, as no plant re- 
sponds to good treatment more readily. 



25 



Planting. 

Therefore it is advisable, if maximum 
results are desired, to prepare the ground 
with a good plowing and harrowing. 
When the ground is in good condition it 
is easier to plant. 

Cost of Setting Out Spineless Cactus 
by Hand Labor. 

In Europe cactus has been set out by 
hand labor, and the cost is estimated to 
be about $5.00 per acre. 

One man can set out 1,000 slabs a day 
in ground previously well prepared. In a 
country where traction engines can be 
used and large tracts set out, the cost 
would not exceed $5.00 per acre. 

Climate. 

Cactus will not thrieve where the 
ground freezes over an inch in depth or 
where the temperature stands as low as 
fifteen degrees above zero for any great 
period. Extreme heat is not of serious 
consequence. 



The Kind of Land. 

About six to eight inches of rainfall 
are required for the best cactus culture, 
although cactus will do well on three to 
five inches per season. 

It is not necessary that the rainfall 
should be regular. The precipitation of 
rain can be once in four years or even as 
infrequent as once in ten years. 

Cactus plants do not necessarily re- 
quire rich land. The climate conditions 
are more important than the soil. 

The land need not be what is generally 
denominated fruit or agricultural land. 

Land which can be commonly pur- 
chased in the valleys of California for 
$5.00 per acre up is feasible. Cactus will 
stand as much white alkali as any plant 
which grows. 

The cactus yields big luscious slabs, 
weighing from one to seven pounds each, 
which can be cut at any time, summer 
or winter. There is no particular harvest 
season, therefore no necessity to harvest 
and store. 




Showing Method of Planting. 



26 




Opuntia Leaf and Fruit. 



The New Burbank Opuntias for Fruit. 



The old thorny varieties of the fruiting 
cactus are too well known to need de- 
scription. The fruits are the principal 
food for millions of people during three 
or four months each year. The new ones 
now for the first time grown and here 
described were not in existence ten years 
ago. All originated on the Burbank Ex- 
periment Farms and are not obtainable 
at any other source. The fruits of these 
are greatly superior to the old kinds, and 
can be raised for one-tenth the cost of 
producing other fruits. Even the old wild 
kinds sell at about the same price as 
oranges. 

No cactus bearing good, large fruit 
abundantly is yet wholly spineless, some 
are nearly so. The fine bristles on the 
fruits are readily removed with a small 
whisk broom before picking. 

For the old fruiting Opuntias or Prickly 
Pears, eighteen thousand pounds of fruit 
per acre is found to be a common crop on 
the poorest soils, while on good soils the 
best Burbank fruiting varieties will and 
have produced at the rate of more than 
one hundred thousand pounds of delicious 



fruit per acre. The fruits differ in various 
ways like apples, plums or peaches. By 
analysis they are found to contain from 
six to fourteen per cent sugar besides a 
small amount of protein and fat, also 
aromas and flavors. Some contain more 
of these, some less; all desirable quali- 
ties are greatly increased by scientific 
breeding and selection for this purpose, as 
with the apple, peach, sugar beet and 
other fruits, grains and vegetables. 

Some of the earlier varieties ripen in 
June and July, the later ones in August, 
September, October and November and 
through the winter. Most of them com- 
mence bearing about the third year from 
cuttings. 

The general practice to prepare the fruit 
for use is by brushing with a whisk broom 
or rubbing with a coarse cloth, then cut- 
ting a thin slice from each end through 
the skin, then slitting from end to end 
when the skin may be readily removed, 
leaving the solid, sweet flesh ready for 
use; another way is to slice through the 
center of the fruit from end to end and 
remove the flesh with a spoon. 



27 



Fruiting Varieties. 





' 'Quillota. " 



'QuiUota." 



"Gravity," 



Cross of Anacantha and White Fruit. 
Large plants with thick oval, light green 
leaves. Fruit large, handsome, yellow 
with crimson blush; thin skin which is 
readily removed ; firm, pale greenish, al- 
most white flesh; seeds medium to small; 
flesh sweet, rich, most excellent. Unlike 
other Opuntias it drops at once like ap- 
ples when just ripe, thus saving the trou- 
ble of picking. Fruit ripens from Septem- 
ber to April. 



A strong grower with unusually large 
slabs. The fruit is very large (often 
we'ghing one-half pound each), yellow 
shaded orange, flesh yellow, sweet and 
delicious, with few seeds which are al- 
most as small as tomato seeds. Plant 
nearly spineless. Ripe from October to 
March. 




TTofn-"^ 



i-TT 






'•mr^f^wmmmmmammmmmmmmmmmmHmmmmmoi' 



"Gravity." 



28 




"Market." 



"Market." 



'Niagara." 



For fruit alone, if one is not disturbed 
with spines, "Market," a seedling of the 
well known Smith will greatly please 
growers. Like the Smith, the plants are 
unusually robust growers with large, pale 
green slabs which are annually loaded 
down with brilliant, crimson six to seven 
ounce fruits of a pleasing compact form 
and very thin easily removed skin; flesh 
violet crimson, sweet and in every way 
far in advance of any of this fine class ex- 
cept for the few short spines. The fruit 
has rather large seeds but is produced so 
freely that it can be recommended as one 
of the very best of all the half spiny class. 



Selected seedling of the "Smith." The 
plant and fruit are both somewhat bristly, 
but not nearly as much so as the parent. 
Niagara never fails to bear at least four 
to six times as much fruit as the Smith. 
The fruit, which is of the brightest crim- 
son color is smoother and more compact, 
larger, with a thinner peel and of far su- 
perior quality, flesh crimson throughout. 
Seeds somewhat abundant, but its enor- 
mous producing ability can and will give 
it a place. The crimson fruits sell most 
readily. 




' Niagara. ' ' 



29 



Other Uses for Spineless Cactus. 



First: The fresh fruit of these im- 
proved varieties is unique in form and 
color, exceedingly handsome, unusually 
wholesome (the large amount of vegeta- 
ble salts they contain being regarded as 
very beneficial), and far superior to the 
banana in flavor. It is usually sold at the 
same price per box as oranges and can be 
produced at less than one-tenth the ex- 
pense of producing apples, oranges, apri- 
cots, grapes, plums or peaches. There is 
never a failure in the crop which can be 
shipped as safely as the other deciduous 
fruits. The fruit can be gathered and 
stored like apples, and some kinds will 
keep in excellent condition from four to 
five months. Samples packed in ordinary 
packing boxes without ice, were shipped 
to Chicago, New York, Boston and Wash- 
ington and kept in perfect condition. 

Second: Most delicious jams, jellies, 
syrups, etc, in enormous quantities at a 
nominal cost, are made from the fruits 
alone or in combination with other fruits, 
besides various foods and confections, 
such as Tuna honey (Miel de Tuna), 
Tuna butter (Melcocha), and Tuna 
cheese (Queso). 

Opuntias have been used (even the 
thorny ones), for making confectionery 
by the Mexicans and others for a long 
time. Some of the finest candies of Mex- 
ico are candied cacti of various forms. 

Third: The fat young leaves are some- 
times used for pickles, and are a fairly 
good and wholesome food when fried like 
egg-plant. They are also boiled and used 
as greens and are prepared with sugar 
producing a sweetmeat similar to pre- 
served citron, which may be flavored with 
ginger or other spices. 

Fourth: The abundant mucilaginous 
juice from the leaves is extracted for mix- 
ing with whitewash to make it lasting 
when exposed to the weather. For the 
purpose of obtaining this mucilage the 
leaves are simply cut in thin slices or 
crushed and placed in water. A leaf or 
two will make a gallon of good, thick, 
transparent mucilage of superior tenacity, 
used on cotton fabrics especially for wat- 
erproofing. When this substance dries 
slowly, it produces a gum which is hard. 



brittle, generally white or of a pearly 
color, and not readily dissolved in water. 
It should also make a valuable addition 
for giving more tenacity to some of the 
compounds used in spraying trees and 
plants for parasites. 

Fifth : The juice from the fruits of the 
crimson varieties is used for coloring 
ices, jelly and confectionery; no more 
beautiful colors can be imagined. 

Sixth : The fruits and leaves are some- 
times served in various other forms for 
food by those who are familiar with them. 

Seventh: The cactus also gives great 
promise as a producer of alcohol, paper 
pulp and leather board, and in Australia 
is now said to be a thorough success in 
these respects. It is planted at Alexan- 
dria, Egypt, to prevent the drifting of 
sand. 

Eighth: Even if the cactus yielded no 
product of direct utility, yet it would, on 
account of its great growth and rapidity 
of increase, perform a very distinct func- 
tion in preventing the rain from carrying 
away superficial layers of soil from barren 
slopes which the rain waters would surely 
carry to the sea where would be wasted 
uselessly this most precious portion of the 
earth's crust, the portion most rich in ele- 
ments of fertility. Moreover the cactus 
facilitates the penetration of the earth by 
waters which reappear below in the form 
of springs. It is impossible to repeat too 
often that, in such countries as Tunis and 
Algiers, where frequently torrential rains 
are separated by long seasons of drought, 
too great effort can not be made to retain 
in the ground as much as possible of this 
water which ordinarily trickles away 
without benefit to agriculture over the 
numerous barren slopes. It is not neces- 
sary to wait until it forms into rivulets 
before trying to catch it. It is much 
sooner than this, when the water has as 
yet formed merely liquid threads w^hich 
the tiniest obstacle can divert, that the 
effort should be made to make it pene- 
trate the soil. The cactus planted on 
cleared strips, worked out according to 
the contour of the surface, may be advan- 
tageously employed to this end. 



so 



House of Representatives U. S. 
Part of Cong. Record. 

LUTHER BURBANK AND HIS WORK 

From the Speech of 

Hon. Everis A. Hayes 

of California 

In the House of Representatives 

SPINELESS CACTUS 

No more important thing has recently 
occurred in agriculture than the success- 
ful production of the rapid-growing, edible 
spineless cactus by Luther Burbank. After 
16 years of expensive and costly experi- 
mentation he has produced a new and most 
valuable cattle food for the world. Mr. 
Burbank does not claim to have discov- 
ered the spineless cactus. Some varieties 
of this plant have been known for years, 
but without exception they have been non- 
edible by any animal. For many years 
it has been the custom in Africa, as well 
as in those parts of America where it 
abounds, to feed to cattle certain varie- 
ties of the prickly pear cactus after the 
spines have been burned off. This burn- 
ing, of course, greatly increases the cost of 
fodder. The food value of this spiney cac- 
tus for stock has been known by cattle- 
men, who have grown and used it for 
some years. 

Mr. William Sinclair, a successful cat- 
tle grower of Texas, writes: 

"We find it very poor policy to put 
the slightest limit on the amount of cac- 
tus our cows get. The more they can eat 
the better they thrive and the more milk 
they give. There is nothing that sets 
them back more than a shortage of cactus. 
If we happen to be short of milk the cause 
is almost invariably traced to the short- 
age of cactus. ' ' 

The following table shows the compara- 
tive value of the average cacti, alfalfa 
hay and gamma, a typical range grass, 
according to analyses made by the Univer- 
sity of Arizona agricultural experimental 
station: 

In Water-Free Substance 

Cactus Alfalfa Gamma 
without hay grass 
fruit 

Ash 19 91 5.67 15.11 

Protein 6.48 12.74 6.99 

Fiber 10.22 39.04 30.31 

Nitro free extract . . 61.48 41.06 45.63 

Ether 1.83 1.49 1.96 

The great desirability of the rapid grow- 
ing and edible spineless cactus for cattle 
food has been recognized all over the 
world. Inspired by the work of Mr. Bur- 
bank and by the experiments made by the 
French government in Algiers, the United 
States, through the department of agri- 
culture, was several years ago moved to 
take up the matter of securing spineless 
cactus. Experts were sent to foreign 



countries, and the world was searched that 
a cactus might be found spineless, or near- 
ly spineless, which would have sufficient 
nutriment to be valuable as a cattle fod- 
der. From the plants so collected the de- 
partment of agriculture has been able to 
produce a cactus sufficiently free from 
spines and nutritive enough to be of some 
value for the cattle business. But today, 
in spite of all its organization and its 
wealth, the Department of Agriculture has 
not obtained a cactus that is in any respect 
the equal of the cactus produced by Mr. 
Burbank single handed. 

Of all stock food, the Burbank Improved 
spineless cactus is by far the most prolific. 

It is adapted to almost any soil where 
the temperature does not go below 18 de- 
grees above zero, and it will stand a great 
amount of heat. 

Cactus is the only fodder that furnishes 
green, succulent feed all the year. 

Another source of great value in the 
Burbank improved spineless cactus is its 
fruit. It is a fall and winter fruit of at- 
tractive colors — crimson, scarlet, yellow, 
white and variegated. It is a sure bearer; 
a good packer and shipper; very healthful, 
and of a flavor which many prefer to that 
of bananas or figs. It contains 8 per cent 
to 16 per cent of sugar; is a great fattener 
for hogs and cattle. Poultry also is ex- 
tremely fond of it. 

These make fine jellies, jams and glace 
fruits and can be used for coloring ices, 
jellies, confectionery and so forth. 

In an experimental way from the Bur- 
bank improved spineless cactus paper pulp 
and wood alcohol have been produced. But 
the greatest value of Burbank improved 
spineless cactus will be that it will make 
highly productive and valuable vast tracts 
of land now barren because of insuffi- 
cient rainfall, not only in southern Cali- 
fornia and Arizona, the natural home of 
the cactus, but also in South America, Aus- 
tralia, India, Egypt and elsewhere. 

For example, at Los Banos, Cal., on the 
west side of the San Joaquin valley, are 
large tracts of land practically bare and 
worth but $10 $10 or $15 per acre. The an- 
nual rainfall is about 5 or 6 inches per 
annum, making the land semi-arid. On 
this soil, without irrigation, the Los Banos 
plantation is producing enough, with a few 
pounds of chopped straw, bran or other 
roughage, to keep four cows per acre all 
the year. This same land, when so situated 
that it can be irrigated and planted to al- 
falfa, keeps about one cow per acre an- 
nually and is now selling for $200 per 
acre. In other words, Burbank improved 
spineless cactus will give $l5-an-acre land 
a greater earning power than alfalfa on 
$200-an-acre land. 

A visit to the cactus ranch of Mr. Bur- 
bank at Los Banos, above referred to, will 
demonstrate to the most skeptical the great 
value of this production of Mr. Burbank. 



31 



JAN 2 WIS 



SAMPLES OF VARIOUS COMMENTS ON 
THE WORK. 

"Mr. Burbank's first publication on 
economic cacti serves to set at rest many 
groundless suppositions as to the character 
of the work he has had under way for years 
on these plants. Some persons forgetting 
that Mr. Burbank has made up to now no 
official announcement of his work jumped 
to the conclusion that he had merely hit 
upon ore of the common nearly spineless 
forms of Opuntia Ficus Indica. Others more 
dishonest have been offering for sale so- 
called 'Burbank's Thornless Cactus' des- 
pite the fact that not a single plant or 
seed of Mr. Burbank's new creations has 
left his grounds up to a few weeks ago. 

"Mr. Burbank was perfectly well aware 
of the inception of his work on the opuntias 
that there were many forms nearly thorn- 
less and he has even brought to light one 
kind, which he calls the 'Marin,' grown in 
many countries that has neither spines nor 
spicules. The Marin is not of much value, 
however, as it is a rather small plant and 
is not hardy. The new forms are much 
more rapid growers and are also more 
hardy." 

—Dr. Walter T. Swingle, U. S. Dept. of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



Consulado General de Mexico, 
San Francisco, Cal. 

Hon. Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal. 

Honored Sir: I beg to offer you my pro- 
found acknowledgments for your kindest 
authorization to have your announcement 
of the spineless cacti translated into Span- 
ish by Professor Luis A. Beauregard, Di- 
rector General of Public Instruction of 
Campeche, Mexico. 

I have sent to the professor a textual 
copy of your honored letter. 

I have, sir, the honor to be 

Your most obedient servant, 

P. ORNELAS. 



BURBANK CACTUS IS A GOOD 
FODDER 

"BERKELEY, Feb. 8.— Experiments 
just completed by M. E. Jaffa, head of 
the department of nutrition and foods at 
the University show that the new species 
of thornless cactus has properties as fod- 
der for cattle which will equal many of 
the desert grasses. The tests were made 
at the request of Luther Burbank, the 
originator of the new species of plant, 
and have proved to the full the great im- 
portance of the new plant as a fodder for 
cattle in the waste lands. Professor Jaffa's 
report on the experiment has just been 
completed and will be forwarded to Bur- 
bank in a few days. 

"A short time ago live species of the 
plant were sent to the agricultural sta- 
tion here to determine the food value. 
The series of exneriments carried on by 
Professor Jaffa show that the new plant 
carries nutritive powers which equal three- 
quarters of that of alfalfa." — "The Ber- 
keley (Cal.) Independent." 



"It can be safely said without fear 
of contradiction that the prophecies of 
Luther Burbank regarding spineless cac- 
tus are being fully realized — and that it is 
now taking its place at the head of all 
forage plants as a stock and dairy feed 
in our western arid and semi-arid states, 
as well as poultry feed and a luscious fruit 
for our tables second to none. ' ' 



"It is the conviction of the writer that 
in no home on this, our earth, is there any 
one being who is exercising a more po- 
tent influence for the good of his race 
than Luther Burbank. For in his work 
he is guided by the highest principle of 
benevolence, the training of each indi- 
vidual to perform its best." — "Opinion," 
Rockland, Me. 



"That the millions of acres of desert 
land overgrown with cactus may be made 
a source of large revenue seems almost in- 
credible, but stranger things have hap- 
pened. Unless Burbank be badly mistaken 
the spineless cactus is destined to become 
one of the most useful of plants, furnish- 
ing abundance of food for man and beast 
in regions which have been regarded as too 
sterile and desolate for any form of stock 
raising or farming. And the profitable 
conversion of the common form of the 
plant into alcohol seems even better as- 
sured." — "The Sacramento (Cal.) Bee." 



SUGAR FROM PRICKLY PEARS 

At the instance of the Queensland Gov- 
ernment experiments have been made with 
the prickly pear for the extraction of 
sugar, and it is claimed that two tons of 
prickly pear yield as much sugar as three 
tons of sugar cane and of an equally good 
quality. — American Review of Tropical 
Agriculture, Mexico City, Mexico. 



32 



How To Order 



Wherever it is possible to do so, use the order blank. 

Fill out all the information that the blank spaces call for. 

Be sure to write your name plainly. Give postofhce where you re- 
ceive your mail, including County name. State plainly the town or 
point where you receive freight. 

Give the name of the Railroad or Express company from which you 
receive your freight. If possible, give routing directions if you are clear 
in your mind on this point. Without this latter information we will use 
our best judgment as to routing the same. 

All orders will be shipped by freight unless otherwise specified. The 
one exception to this rule will be where package is small enough that the 
express rates will be as cheap as the freight rates, consequently will be 
shipped by express. 

The bill of lading will be forwarded by mail at the time of the ship- 
ment. Allow a sufficient length of time for the package to arrive, and 
then if it does not arrive notify the railroad or express company, show- 
ing the bill of lading. Also notify us by mail and we will send a tracer 
after it. 

We are not responsible in any manner after we have delivered the 
same to the railroad company and received their receipt. Purchasers as- 
sume all risks of the delivery of goods by freight and must make recourse 
to the railroad company. We will do all in our power, however, to 
straighten out any difficulty with the railroad company. 

Nc one is an authorized agent of this company, unless there is the 
trade mark as shown on the front cover of catalogue plainly stamped, 
printed or engraved on each package of seed, slab, plant or tree. 

Nothing will be sent C. O. D. 

All remittances must be either postal orders, bank drafts or certified 
checks, properly made out to this Company. 

OUR GUARANTEE. 

We guarantee that each package of seed, plant or shrub is the va- 
riety or kind that it is labeled. 

The Luther Burbank Company 

Santa Rosa, California. 



S!?» OF oo„a«ESS 



020Sim 



The New Catalogues 



You may now secure the true seeds, bulbs and trees 
of Luther Burbank, and the new creations in flowers and 
fruits, direct from the original source. 

Many seedmen, nurserymen, and others have, know- 
ingly or otherwise, sold the unsuspecting public truly 
worthless seeds, bulbs and trees as Burbank productions. 

Hereafter, to protect the public and the originator 
against fraud, the true productions of Luther Burbank 
will be sold only by this company, which is the sole au- 
thorized distributer of the Burbank productions. 

Direct from his farms and nurseries many new won- 
derful fruits and flowers will be shipped this season. The 
supply of both seeds and nursery stock is very limited. 
To secure some of these plant wonders, which are new to 
mankind, applications must be received early. 

Write at once to The Luther Burbank Co., Santa 
Rosa, California, stating whether you wish the catalogue 
of fruits or flowers, and as soon as they come from the 
press the desired book will be mailed without charge. 



The Luther Burbank Co. 

Sole Distributer of Burbank Horticultural Productions 
Santa Rosa, California, U. S. A. 



